No, it's not an April Fools Day joke. According to this very brief note from New Scientist, US soldiers will soon be equipped with individual robotic aircrafts. The Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) is a project from DARPA and is developed by Honeywell which is testing it since January 2005. The small plane, which will be carried in a backpack, is 13-inch high and weighs about 12 pounds. It is designed as a ducted fan air vehicle, and flies like a helicopter. Today, its propeller uses gasoline, but a heavy fuel version should be available in 2006. The MAV will be used for surveillance and recognition missions and will be available day and night because of its normal and thermal cameras transmitting images to a ground station. Read more.
Here is how DARPA describes the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program.
The objective of the MAV ACTD is to demonstrate a backpackable, affordable, easy-to-operate, and responsive reconnaissance and surveillance system. The system will provide the small unit with militarily useful real-time combat information of difficult to observe and/or distant areas or objects.
The system will also be employable in a variety of warfighting environments (for example: in complex topologies such as mountainous terrain; heavily forested areas; confined spaces; and high concentrations of civilians).
This DARPA presentation (PDF format, 2 pages, 55 KB, unknown date) adds that the nickname for the MAV project was "Private Jones" and emphasizes how the MAV should be easy to use. At least, it's fun to read.
Here is an illustration showing the Micro Air Vehicle concept (Credit: DARPA). This image comes from the program page mentioned just above.
And here is how it looks now (Credit: Honeywell).
It's time to move to the manufacturer of the MAV system. In this press release, Honeywell said it began flight tests of the MAV in January 2005. Here are some details.
The two-party system has given this country the war of Lyndon Johnson, the Watergate of Nixon, and the incompetence of Carter. Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life-rafts.
—Eugene J. McCarthy (b. 1916)
Flight tests will continue through March at Honeywell’s facility in Albuquerque. In April, Honeywell will begin delivery of prototype systems to the Army for initial experimentation.
Called a ducted fan air vehicle, the MAV flies like a helicopter, using a propeller that draws in air through a duct to provide lift. The MAV’s propeller is enclosed in the duct and is driven by a gasoline engine. A heavy fuel engine variant of the MAV will be available in 2006.
The MAV is controlled using Honeywell’s micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) electronic sensor technology.
Now, let's look at this MAV page at the Honeywell Defense and Space Electronic Systems, from where the second illustration was extracted.
The MAV system, consisting of two air vehicles and a ground station, provides enhanced mission effectiveness and force protection. The modular, scaleable family of systems supports soldiers in both urban and open terrain.
Situational awareness is provided by both day and thermal forward and downward looking electro-optical and infrared imaging sensors. The video feed to the ground station provides real-time viewing as well as recall of stored images.
You also should read this fact sheet (PDF format, 2 pages, 155 KB). Don't miss the first page: it looks like soldiers are playing, and that war is fun -- which I find hard to believe.
The second page describes the MAV system features, and has a section on "target detection" which puzzles me.
Ethics and religion differ herein; that the one is the system of human duties commencing from man; the other, from God. Religion includes the personality of God; Ethics does not.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
It says the system can "detect and recognize man-sized target at 250m (day) and 125m (night)," but that there is a possible "target location error of 80 meters."
Either I don't understand what this means (it might be military jargon), or this MAV is not precise enough to help soldiers, especially in urban areas. What do you think of this target detection "precision"?
Sources: Various websites
Related stories can be found in the following categories.
Aerospace
Military Applications
Robotics
Transportation.